Update before eurotour

Hi everyone! I'm currently in the middle of packing for my 18 day trip across Europe, but I figured I might as well get in one last blog in the meantime.... so, here goes:

Egeskov slot:

On a Sunday a few weeks ago, my host parents and I went to Egeskov slot (Egeskvov castle) with their son Martin and his family. It is a beautiful castle close to Odense. Long story short, it's a castle that has always been owned by counts and is, to this day, still being lived in. There is also a wooden doll up in the top that, based on mythology, must stay there or else the house will burn down on christmas day. We were only allowed to see a part of the castle because some roons are still being used, but the best part was actually outdoors. There are tons of parks and places to play (coolest part: a metal "playground" maybe 20-30 ft in the air where you can walk around at the treetops). We had tons of fun!

The wooden doll

Playing around a bit

That evening I stayed with my host brother and his family. The next day I went to work with his girlfriend who teaches at an elementary school in Odense.

My day of "Teaching" English:

I spent a day in Odense helping out with 3 english classes (from 3rd to 5th grade). It was great seeing how much English the students know and seeing the questions they asked about myself and Florida (it was a refreshing change from the questions my Rotary club asks.... getting asked questions like "have you ever been bitten by a shark" is way more entertaining than "how many people live in your town".)

Presenting for the 4th graders

Weekend in Odense:

The next weekend I went back to my host brother and his girlfriend in Odense. My host parents were going to the Opera in Copenhagen, so I got to spend some time with one of their sons.

We had a great time in Odense (it was me and my host brother along with his girlfriend). Aside from spending time together relaxing and watching some great movies, we went to the zoo for a day. I got to see tigers along with tons of other animals, which I, of course, LOVED! I have to admit I didn't realize I missed working at a zoo so much. The best thing in the zoo was the "open" enclosure for spider monkeys. There was an enclosure where guests could actually go in with the spider monkeys. I'm sure most Americans are dying with how unsafe it sounds, but there was a zookeeper present and I was surprised by how well thought out it was.

Just two of the adorable spider monkeys

If you don't know that the animals behind me are penguins than, well... I have no response for you

Last official week of school:

The past week was my last week of school. I will return back one day but that is at the end of June and just a goodbye party. Due to my eurotour starting on the 15th and my class's study vacation (they get a vaction to study for their exams), this was my last week. 

It is hard knowing that I won't be returning for another year of school. I will no longer walk through the halls laughing with classmates or suffer through boring classes with facebook as my only entertainment. I did bring in chocolate cupcakes for my classmates and friends and promised to give a real goodbye at our official last day together, as well as promise to return someday.

Last evening with my 3rd host family:

Tonight has been my last evening living my "normal" life with my 3rd host family. My host mom will be having an operation tomorrow and on tuesday I leave for eurotour. 

We had a great dinner and dessert and said our "goodbye's" since I'll be coming back, but won't be living here officially any longer. I gave them some gifts from Florida and, to my surprise, I got gifts from them. They gave me a hoptimist (google them) which is something very danish that I'd loved all year as well as a homemade advent candle holder (to hold four candles- one for each of the last 4 sundays leading to Christmas) which is a Danish tradition I'd been hoping to bring home.

It has been wonderful living with this family and I can't believe my time here is ending. It's hard to think that 3/4th of my exchange are gone and the last few months will go even faster.

Host Family update:

Obviously, I won't be living with my 3rd host family after my eurotour. Due to some things that have occured this year, I will be moving back to my 2nd host family after eurotour instead of having a 4th famil.

Eurotour:

I will leave May 15th for eurotour. We will go to 8 countries over 18 days and I'll be on a bus with about 50 other exchange students. I honestly can't wait!

                               

                                   

Random things:

Life is life. I have been busy spending time with my friends... infact I spent this entire weekend with two of my good friends here in Denmark. Friday I went to a 50's American style diner with one of my best friends and then had a guacamole/criminal minds sleepover (yes, we are strange people).

I have been busy living my life here trying to not think about leaving as much as possible. Everytime I think about going back to Florida, I honestly want to curl in a ball and hide so that nobody can make me leave this country. Unfortunately, I can't do that. Luckily for me I have made great friends and families here in Denmark that I'll never forget, which is all I could've asked for. I also have great people and things to come back to in Florida. 

Closing:

Life in Denmark is amazing, but I will be leaving it in 2 days to go on my eurotour and soon after that I'll be leaving for my "real home" in Florida. For now, I'm living in the moment. I currently am trying to stop myself from peeing my pants in excitement over eurotour. I know it will be a great trip and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to go on eurotour.

Until next time.

McKenzie <3

Paris... and a ton of other stuff

Hey again :)

So.... PARIS! My trip to Paris was absolutely amazing! It was pretty much a dream come true and I'll have life-long memories from that trip. After a long day of flying (due to the fact that I had a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt), I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 9-ish that evening. I was able to find my family (I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle who moved to Pairs about 2 years ago) and we found our way home.

 During the week I spent a lot of time with my aunt and uncle who I haven't since since I was about 8-9 years old. They were great tour guides and showed me all the sights. We saw all the main sights in Paris (most being shown in the below pictures) as well as some art museums (The Louvre, Orsay, and l'Orangerie), and we took a day trip to Fontainebleau Chateau which also houses the Napoleon museum.

Standing in front of the back part of Notre Dame

A great view of the Seine and Notre Dame

The Louvre

L'Arc de Triomphe

With the Eiffel Tower before we climbed to the top

Amazing view at night!

Sacre Coeur

Fontainebleau

One of my favorite pictures from that whole week

This would be me coming out of the bell tower at Notre Dame

Overall, my trip to Paris was amazing. It was everything I'd dreamed of and more and I'm so thankful I got to go.

Unfortunately, my trip to Paris ended. I flew back home (clarification for every Floridian who I know will have a fit and start getting confused- home to DENMARK!). I was absolutely ecstatic hearing Danish for the first time in a week, I am pretty sure I smiled the whole plane ride just listening in on Danish conversations. 

My first week back was my school's spring break. I spent some time with my host family (we had an Easter lunch with the whole family my first day home) and friends. I spent a day in Odense (which is the 3rd largest city in Denmark) with my host parents and one of their sons who lives there- we went and saw H. C. Anderson's house. Some of the girls in my class got together and had a great dinner together which was fun since I hadn't seen them for almost two weeks by then. I also went to my host parents summer house with the rest of our family. Aside from those main things, I spent my time with friends just hanging out or going into town for a party or two.

Påskefrokost med familien (Easter lunch with the family)- me with a host brother and his girlfriend

H.C. Andersons hus

My host mom and I at the sommerhouse while going on a little walk

After my Spring break, I went back to school. My school had a spring concert which I sang in (I take music class at school, so I was in with the choir).

Since then, life has been just about as "normal" as life here can be for me. I go to school during the week and spend time with friends after school. On the weekends I go to parties, have sleepovers, sleep in late like every other teenager, and go on small daytrips with my host family. 

Recently, my host parents and I went to see some caves and then went on a little picnic after. The caves are just outside of a town called Viborg and the caves are full of bats during the summer and there is also a special part closed off where they make cheese.

On Monday, my host parents and I went to Copenhagen for the Queens birthday. There's a tradition in Denmark that on her birthday people come and wave and hold Danish flags to celebrate her birthday. At noon she comes out onto her balcony with her family while everyone cheers.

After that we had lunch in a classic Danish lunch restaurant, got ice cream, and walked up the Round Tower which was built as an astronomy tower. I had an amazing day in Copenhagen and will honestly never stop loving that city!

The guard

Happy Birthday Queen Margerete II

Love this city

The Round tower

An advertisement for Carlsberg beer that says "Probably the best beer in town".... Danes aren't the best at advertising apparently

Last night I went to my 2nd host parents silver wedding. I had an absolutely amazing time and am so happy I went. I love that family so much so it was great seeing them again, as well as seeing a cute tradition in Denmark. I'll try and get pictures soon and then talk more about it in the next blog!

-McKenzie

Host family switch and leaving for Paris

As I’m sitting down writing this, I’m waiting at the airport in Billund (Denmark for all the Americans out there who have no clue where that is).

I’m about to go to Paris for a week to visit my Great Aunt and Uncle. I would say that the only feelings I have right now are excitement… but I’d be lying. I am indescribably excited and can’t wait to spend a week in the city that I’ve always dreamed of. But, I am also starting to realize just how quickly my time in Denmark is going by. The last time I was at this airport, I was arriving from Florida, at the beginning of my exchange. The next time I board a flight here, I will be on my way “home”.

I have had these plans to go to Paris since I first came in August. Since then it’s always been “Oh yeah, I’m going to Paris… but I have a long time until then”. No longer can I say that. I’m leaving today; in only a few hours. I am obviously super excited, but I can’t get rid of the thought that my time here is slowly slipping past.

But… away with the dreary thoughts of going home…. IM GOING TO PARIS J

I’ll have to send in another update later on to tell you all how that went. For now, I’ll bore you all with the information about what I’ve done the past few weeks.

I am currently living with my 3^rd host family. I moved in with them over 6 weeks ago and ever since I have had an amazing time with them. Leaving my 2^nd family was possibly the hardest thing I’ve done on exchange. I cried more than I did leaving my real parents back in Florida (before you call me a heartless person, I knew I would be back with my family in Florida, but at the time there was no certainty on whether or not I would ever be back to live with my old host family).

After I got over the sadness of leaving the 3 people that I can now call family, I got over the sad emotions quite quickly, because my current host parents are amazing. Kjeld (host dad) and Merete (host mom) are absolutely two of the sweetest people and I am really happy I am with them. They love taking me out to see things on the weekends and all of their family is amazing. I have been to south Denmark and crossed the border into Germany with them, visited Århus, Silkeborg, Holstebro, and Horsens, seen plenty of museums (I realize it sounds boring visiting museums, but some were actually pretty cool. We went to one in Silkeborg called “Aqua” and I saw the cutest otters). Living with them can be described in one word “hyggeligt” which is something I can’t describe other than cozy (even though it’s so much better than that).

I have also been able to tour a tv news station where one of their sons works. We discovered that I could have a pretty successful career in TV journalism J I also went to visit another son of theirs in Horsens, where I was able to get some clothes from Pieces (aka Danish wonderland) because he works there. We already have plenty more plans (visiting their oldest son who lives in Odense where I can see H.C. Anderson’s house and the zoo there), visiting castles, and we will go to Copenhagen on the Queen’s birthday!

We also usually volunteer at the local movie theatre on Monday nights. We work at the counter helping with ticket sales and snacks. In exchange, we can see all the free movies we want. I even went to see the Hunger Games premiere (yes, I had to mention it being the fan that I am) on Thursday. It was an amazing movie (*cough cough* if you haven’t seen it, get your butt to the movie theatre right now) and I even got to see it almost 12 hours before Floridians (aka REBECCA SOLOMAN)… gotta love time changes and the fact that Danes aren’t huge on midnight premieres so films can come out at 6:30PM!

Aside from the normal life of school, hanging out with friends, and spending time with my host family, life has been pretty “average” (I say average  even though my life isn’t quite the average for an American or Dane because I get some pretty cool perks being the exchange student; but, nonetheless, it’s average to me).

One thing I was able to do was give a speech to an “efterskole” (boarding school). I spoke (in English, as it was for their English class) about teen life in America. It was a great day for me.

Lately I’ve just been busy touring Denmark with my host parents, spending time with all of my great friends here, and going to the occasional Rotary meeting.

I’ll be in Paris until Saturday the 31^st. After that I will have my week long Easter vacation from school (aka- I get a 2 week vacation, unlike my classmates who only have one). I already have plenty of plans for that, but I’ll get to those in a later post!

I better go get ready for my flight! I can’t wait to spend a week in Paris J

-McKenzie <3 

Long overdue update

Hi little creepy stalkers out there on the internet :)

As always, bunches has happened since my last post, but I'll start from the beginning and work my way to now!

Christmas:

My Danish Christmas was, unquestionably, the best Christmas I have ever had in my life. Nothing could have made it better.... okay if there was snow that day it would have been perfect.... but I can overlook that fact!

My host parents had all the family come over for Christmas and so we celebrated with a large group and we followed all the Danish traditions. We watched the adorable Christmas Disney special on the 24th (the day they celebrate), ate a huge meal, opened gifts, and danced around the Christmas tree while singing carols and it was light with real candles! Don't believe that they are crazy enough to put real candles on their tree? Proof:

The only way I can describe my Christmas was absolutely perfect. I was afraid that I would be homesick or feel disconnected, but I have never felt more in place here in Denmark than that night. My host family made such a good job of making sure I felt like a part of the family and I was so busy that I couldn't miss my family back home.

New Years Eve:

One holiday celebrated here probably more so than in America is New Years. New Years eve is a huge deal in Denmark. The queen gave her large speech about the previous and upcoming years on television, we had a huge meal, and watched an old film that everyone watches every year in Denmark. Then, once it was midnight, we watched the clock tower on the Rådhus in Copenhagen ring in the new year. We celebrated with fireworks at home (not the crappy small ones, but the fun ones that are probably illegal in the USA) and champagne! 

My Oldies going Away:

One thing that I love about exchange with Rotary is the concept of oldies and newbies. There are exchange students (mostly from Australia) who come January-January. The 2011 group are my "oldies" and the 2012 group that just arrived are my "newbies". Anyways..... My amazing oldie went home in January so I must give a tribute to her. I went to her going away party. Amy got me through plenty of tough times and I love her bunches so I just thought I should mention that(she's the one in the middle):

Host family switch:

Last weekend, I switched host families. I am now living with my 3rd host family. I won't lie- moving from my 2nd family was hard. I cried. A lot. But, I'm happy with my new family, and I know that it was time for me to get to know another family. As hard as it was leaving my awesome family there, I honestly think the worst part about that weekend was packing. I realized that I probably have a slight addiction to Danish clothing. And shoes. I honestly have no idea how I will get my stuff home in July (REASON TO STAY IN DENMARK? I think yes!!!!!). I mean seriously, how the heck did I get all THIS:

IN MY DEFENCE: one bag is full of all of my Danish books that won't be coming home, one bag is full of gifts for people in Denmark that won't be coming home, and my backpack is full of my school books..... as for the rest- I sware little Danish "nisse" (elves) must be secretly adding to my collection of clothes/shoes/random crap.

School:

I love school here! After New Years the class groups switched up a little. I loved my new class, but it was a little hard. Due to my schedule, I only spent about half the classes with them, which made forming relationships VERY hard. I worked it out so I switched to a different class. My new class is mostly people from my class before New Years and a few new people. This class is PERFECT! I not only get to have a normal schedule, but I honestly love my classmates. They are all super sweet :)

Danish:

I AM FINALLY DONE WITH MY LANGUAGE CLASSES!!!!!!! I took a test on Tuesday and passed so I am now officially finished with attending Danish classes on Tuesday and Thursday classes. 

My overall Danish is alright. Given that I've only been here under 6 months, most Danes are amazed by how good it is. I am proud of how much I know, but I still wish I knew more. As much as I complain about it at times, I want to learn this language as much as I can.

Sne!:

(google translate the title and you'll understand how happy I am right now). Lately, we have had actual snow! It is basically beautiful and I still haven't found anything against the snow. It is basically amazing. The Danes haven't been able to find a way to make me hate the snow yet.... and believe me, they've tried. I've been hit with snow, picked up and rolled in the snow, and had it thrown at me in every way possible.... I still love the snow :)

^ This would be my reaction to sitting in a HUGE pile of snow

^ And this would be the view from my bedroom window. No big deal, right?

Life:

Overall, I honestly LOVE IT HERE! I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life. I have everything I have ever dreamed of, and I recently realized I am living out some people's dream! I am pretty sure I have had a constant smile on my face for at least the past 3-4 months. I still can't bring myself to think that I'll actually have to go back to Florida in just a few months. One thing I have decided for sure, is that one year in this country isn't enough for me, and I will come back. I don't know when or for how long, but it will happen. I have fallen in love with this amazing country and it's people and it's language. Before I came here, I felt absolutely 100% American and never doubted anything about that. Now, I know I am American, but I also feel Danish. I honestly feel a stronger bond to Denmark and it's culture. I will always be American at heart and that can never be changed or taken away from me, but I also feel Danish and will always be affected by the Danish culture.

So there you go little creepers :) Until next time,

McKenzie

I don't know what to call this so here ya go: Another Blog!

Why hello everyone,

So I have basically been having a blast the past few weeks and my exchange has definitely gone up on the happy- scale (is there such a thing? I don't really know, but for now we'll pretend!).

I spent a weekend in Copenhagen (which by the way is my favorite city! It is so beautiful! It's a great mixture of new and old- marked with history everywhere and yet modern at the same time.) I went with my club president and his wife. We had a great time, just walking around the city for a while. We also stopped by the National museum (which by the way has a great brunch saturday morning for anyone interested.,.. and it also has some really cool viking artifacts).

We also did a little creeping and found the USA ambassadors house and, of course, being the American I am I couldn't help but take a photo:

The best part about visiting Copenhagen was Tivoli! For everyone who doesn't know what Tivoli is- it is one of the most magical theme parks! It is smack in the middle of Copenhagen and at Christmas time it is beautiful! That weekend was amazing and definitely won't be my last weekend in Copenhagen (I love that city too much- I definitely reccomend it to every traveler!).

Aside from visiting Copenhagen, I've just been busy living life. I still go to language classes every tuesday and thursday. I go to the gym mondays (which unfortunately hasn't been doing too much to fight my rotary fat.... well at least I have a good excuse for buying cute clothes here?).

On Monday my 3rd host parents took me to Århus for a few hours to see "Den Gamle By" which was fun! It was interesting to see houses from over a hundered years ago! Heres one pic:

Another fun thing I did was learn how to shoot a gun [insert the screaming and fearful faces from my family and friends back home here]. I was surprisingly good given it was my first time!

^photographic proof



Since some people have asked me about the Christmas traditions here in Denmark I figure I should share them here:

~ They eat Æbleskiver and drink Gløgg (both pure deliciousness.... just use google and educate yourself). Oh and they eat pebernødder which are delicious little cookies and eat Ølkage which is basically the same thing as gingerbread, but made with Danish Christmas beer instead. These four things are basically the reasons why I am fat!

~ They have a Kalendarlys (advent candle) which you burn a little from every day in December which are amazing.

~ They actually celebrate the 4 sundays before Christmas which my family never did back home.

~ They always have real trees and wait until like a week before to decorate them!

~ They put these cute things around the house called nisser and they are basically little elves and they're adorable!

~ They have advent shows! The classic one is hilarious because it's half in english and the english is so terrible and they speak my language- Danglish! It's hilarious!

~ They celebrate the 24th not the 25th!

~ They put real candles on the christmas tree and dance around it on Christmas.

 Basically Danish Christmas is amazing! It is so beautiful and I can say that this Christmas is sure to be one I will never forget!

Last weekend I made a "Thanksgiving meal" for my host family. It wasn't a full legitimate Thanksgiving meal like I had hoped, but it was nice nontheless. It was just the 4 of us so there was no need to make a giant meal and they don't have a lot of things I needed to make some things I love (sweet potatoes aren't in Denmark along with canned pumpkin and we couldn't find a real pumpkin in December so no pumpkin pie or sweet potatoe casserole for me this year). It was great and my family liked the meal (although they probably thought I was attempting to give them diabetes with the amount of butter I put in the stuffing).

Aside from that I have just been making friends and having a great time here! I love my host family and the thought of leaving them scares me! I love my 3rd host family already, but this family now is so amazing and leaving them will crush me!

Wednesday is my last day in school before 2012. That day we are just having a few hours of activities and then that evening we are having the gymfest which should be lots of fun!

Until next time, I want to wish you all a Glædelig jul og Godt Nytår!

-McKenzie

Pictures I promised ages ago :)

So I suppose I finally should get around to posting some pictures of me here! I'll start from the beginning and work my way through 3.5 months!

Leaving Florida: Me and my little brother at the airport August 5th, 2011

West coast trip: One of the amazing sandsculptures I saw when I visited the west coast.

My birthday: Me with my birthday cake

Intro camp: A picture of me in front of ARoS museum in Århus while at intro camp

District Get- together: Me and Misaki (Japan) after we hiked Himmelbjerg!

Random: Pretty Danish sunrise

Me right before my first take off:

Viking: Me dressed as a Viking in "Roskilde Viking Skib Museet"

Roskilde kirke: Me standing in the church in Roskilde

Unpictured: below my feet are dozens of dead ancient kings, queens, and other royalty

Me and my "friend" the guard in Copenhagen (this is as close as he let me get to him):

Den Lille Havefrue: The epitome of Denmark!

Me and My new boyfriend: JOKING! He's way too old for me! (it's the bog man in Silkeborg!)

National G2G: On the train ride home after our get-together (this picture doesn't even come close to showing how tired we were)

Kolding huset: Me in the courtyard of the castle in Kolding!

Obviously I've done much more than shown in these pictures but I just thought I'd attempt to keep my word!

Much love!

-McKenzie